Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged European countries to collaborate with the US to build a \u201cnew Western century\u201d, describing US-Europe ties as \u201ccivilisational\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are part of one civilisation \u2013 Western civilisation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n His rallying speech comes after more than a year of President Donald Trump\u2019s rhetoric about mass immigration in Europe and his administration\u2019s latest National Security Strategy, which warns of \u201ccivilisational erasure\u201d in Europe.<\/p>\n Last year, US Vice President JD Vance also lambasted European \u201cliberal values\u201d in his first address at the security conference.<\/p>\n As European leaders grapple with the rise of far-right political parties, how will they respond to this new demand from the US, and what does it mean for the future of transatlantic relations?<\/p>\n The top US diplomat focused on several key areas he views as imperative for Europe to address, which included ending \u201cliberalist\u201d policies the Trump administration views as responsible for Europe\u2019s \u201cpost-war decline\u201d, creating new supply chains to reduce reliance on countries such as China, and ending mass migration, which he said is leading to the erasure of Western \u201ccivilisation\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe work of this new alliance,\u201d Rubio said, \u201cshould not be focused just on military cooperation and reclaiming the industries of the past. It should also be focused on, together, advancing our mutual interests and new frontiers, unshackling our ingenuity, our creativity, and the dynamic spirit to build a new Western century.\u201d<\/p>\n Rubio argued that the \u201ceuphoria\u201d of the Western victory in the Cold War had led to a \u201cdangerous delusion that we had entered \u2018the end of history\u2019\u201d, where every nation would be a liberal democracy and \u201clive in a world without borders, where everyone became a citizen of the world\u201d.<\/p>\n He used this as a plank to lash out against opening \u201cdoors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture, and the future of our people\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cMass migration is not, was not, isn\u2019t some fringe concern of little consequence. It was and continues to be a crisis which is transforming and destabilising societies all across the West,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Taking aim at liberalist policies, he added that, to \u201cappease a climate cult, we have imposed energy policies on ourselves that are impoverishing our people\u201d.<\/p>\n Rubio said the US and its allies should bring more industry and jobs back home, not just to build weapons but to lead in new, high\u2011tech fields.<\/p>\n He added that the West should control key minerals and supply chains, invest in space travel and artificial intelligence, and work together to win markets in the Global South.<\/p>\n In particular, he said, is the need for a \u201cWestern supply chain for critical minerals not vulnerable to extortion from other powers\u201d.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Trump hosted ministers from dozens of countries for a critical minerals conference in Washington. The meeting was the first of a new Critical Minerals Ministerial, a US initiative to build alliances aimed at countering China\u2019s control over critical mineral supply chains around the world.<\/p>\n While the overarching message of Rubio\u2019s speech was that the US still seeks a partnership with Europe, said Trita Parsi, executive vice president of think tank Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, his remarks revealed, \u201cThe US will entirely set the parameters of that partnership and that it will be based on ideas Europe long has abandoned: An embrace of empire and colonisation.\u201d<\/p>\n Rubio\u2019s remarks at the conference suggest that the US under Trump wants Europe to accept \u201ca civilisational divide of the world in which the \u2018West\u2019 must restore its dominance over other civilisations\u201d, Parsi told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cIn essence, Rubio listed the criteria for how Europe can become well-behaved vassals of the United States,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n European leaders appeared to welcome Rubio\u2019s speech at the conference; it was followed by a standing ovation. However, while lauding his call for stronger ties with the US, they notably did not address his comments about migration and liberal values.<\/p>\n European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference: \u201cWe know that in the [Trump] administration, some have a harsher tone on these topics. But the secretary of state was very clear. He said, \u2018We want [a] strong Europe in the alliance\u2019, and this is what we are working for intensively in the European Union.\u201d<\/p>\n French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot responded to Rubio\u2019s speech: \u201cReferring to [our] common legacy can only be welcomed with applause in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will deliver a strong and independent Europe,\u201d he said. \u201cIndependent, of course, irrespective of the speeches that we hear at the Munich Security Conference, however right they may be.\u201d<\/p>\n Calling Rubio a \u201ctrue partner\u201d, German Foreign Minister John Wadephul said: \u201c[It was] a very clear message from Secretary Rubio that we have \u2026 to stay and stick to our international rules-based order, which is, of course, in [the] first line the United Nations. This is our Board of Peace. We have to make it more effective, as Rubio said this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said she was \u201cvery satisfied with the tone\u201d and the content of Rubio\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n European leaders have been facing a dilemma \u2013 particularly over migration and defence \u2013 for some time, for a number of reasons. The mass migration crisis prompted by unrest in other parts of the world has already caused far-right parties to surge in popularity. Now, the Trump administration has voiced support for many of these parties and is also urging Europe to take stronger action on migration and defence.<\/p>\n Therefore, many European leaders have already started taking action in these areas.<\/p>\n For instance, most European countries are already working on boosting their defences and cracking down on migration.<\/p>\n Last year, the United Kingdom announced plans for a big boost in defence spending in advance of Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s meeting with Trump early last year amid fears the US would withdraw support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Notably, Rubio skipped a meeting about Ukraine with European leaders at the Munich conference.<\/p>\n Many countries have also tightened controls over immigration. Denmark has led the way in implementing increasingly restrictive policies in its immigration and asylum system, with top leaders\u00a0aiming for \u201czero asylum seekers\u201d arriving in the country. Recently, the UK said it was studying the Danish model as well.<\/p>\n Europe is also working to make its energy and technology supply chains more sovereign, reducing dependence on foreign suppliers, particularly in the face of Trump\u2019s trade war, which has seen him impose reciprocal trade tariffs on many countries around the world.<\/p>\n Many European leaders have come under increasing pressure from the rise in popularity of far-right parties calling for greater restrictions on immigration, as well.<\/p>\n In recent years, far-right, anti-immigration sentiment has been increasing in countries like the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France. In 2023, the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), led by Geert Wilders, won the election in the Netherlands. France\u2019s National Rally (RN), led by Marine Le Pen, won the snap election in 2024. The same year, Nigel Farage\u2019s right-wing Reform UK party made significant inroads in the general elections and, last year, a YouGov poll placed Reform as the UK\u2019s most popular political party.<\/p>\n Besides this, ideas which were once far-right fringe notions, such as remigration \u2013 the notion of forcibly expelling non-white European citizens \u2013 are gaining traction among far-right conservatives in Europe. The idea has been promoted by Herbert Kickl, the leader of Austria\u2019s far-right anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPO) and Alice Weidel, the leader of the AfD in Germany.<\/p>\n While some European leaders have geared up to resist the rise of far-right politics \u2013 partly by appeasing them with new, more restrictive migration policies \u2013 Trump has, however, embraced it.<\/p>\n All this ultimately means that \u201cEurope has a choice to make\u201d, said Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the think tank Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. \u201cIt can pursue strategic autonomy and seek to find a balance between the great powers, and within that seek a dignified partnership with America in which it is not subjugated into vassalage.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c[Or] Europe can continue on its current path in which it subordinates itself slowly but surely fully to Washington\u2019s interests, priorities, impulses, and ideas about civilisational empire,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n Parsi pointed to the standing ovation at the conference that followed Rubio\u2019s speech, simply for offering to remain partners with Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether they disregarded Rubio\u2019s parameters, did not understand them, or simply found it unimportant because Europe desires to be a junior partner to the United States regardless of the parameters, remains to be seen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For their part, European leaders appeared to place the greatest importance on repairing US-Europe relations above all else at the Munich Security Conference.<\/p>\n During his address at the conference on Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on the US and Europe to \u201crepair and revive transatlantic trust together\u201d. \u201cLet me begin with the uncomfortable truth: A rift, a deep divide has opened between Europe and the United States,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cVice President JD Vance said this a year ago here in Munich. He was right in his description,\u201d Merz said, as he called for a \u201cnew transatlantic partnership\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged European countries to collaborate with the US to build a \u201cnew Western century\u201d, describing US-Europe ties as \u201ccivilisational\u201d. \u201cWe are part of one civilisation \u2013 Western civilisation,\u201d he said. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list His […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explained"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
![\"United](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26044515698463-1771053781.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
What did Rubio say?<\/h2>\n
Liberalism and mass migration<\/h3>\n
New supply chains<\/h3>\n
What does a \u2018new Western century\u2019 mean?<\/h2>\n
How did European leaders react to Rubio\u2019s speech?<\/h2>\n
What does this mean for Europe?<\/h2>\n
What does this mean for US-Europe relations?<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"